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Bag o' Short Fills

By Nate Brown
Welcome back to another Monday Drum Lesson a weekly lesson series presenting new ideas to keep you
inspired throughout each week. This week's lesson focuses on a few short fill ideas. Short fills generally take
up a half measure or less, hence the name.

Short fills #1 and #2 are based on the paradiddle rudiment. Number 1 begins the paradiddle on beat 3,
playing it as sixteenth notes. Each right stick on the snare is accompanied with a bass drum stroke. The bass
drum pattern created gives the fill a syncopated, funky feel.

The following two short fills are based on the more advanced rudiment, the Swiss Army Triplet. Traditionally,
the Swiss Army Triplet is played as triplets, but this fill applies the rudiment as sixteenth notes to give it a
more syncopated feel.

Numbers 5 and 6 leave the fancy rudiments and sixteenth notes behind and instead introduces some
syncopated sixteenth-note triplets. Two counting methods are referenced below the notation. Follow the
counting method that you're most comfortable with.

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